The private wine cellar at a residence in Leedon Park in Singapore requires more privacy and security to their wine collection. The room is temperature and humidity controlled and the entrance door is a glass aluminium framed swing out casement door.

A Gateman fingerprint digital lock does this job well and security can be hardened to the point only authorised changes can be made by the person owning a special pin. Multiple pins and fingerprints can be created to allow staffs on premises to enter and if needed, access can be logged via a bluetooth application.

Interlock.com.sg/WF20

For inquiries, please send a few photos of the wine cellar door to Tony @ 9830-7788 on WhatsApp.

This post examines the considerations for installing on the HDB metal gate which is a very popular request by Singaporeans. For those not familiar with Singapore, the metal gate (or iron grille gate door) is in addition to the wood door for every public housing ( ie. HDB) in Singapore (and to some extent Malaysia).

Rationale​These are reasons given by customers (i.e. you) for a digital lock on the HDB gate:

The door and the metal gate should be both keyless (i.e. digital). Otherwise what's the point for putting one on the door and yet bring a key just for the gate?

The door is usually left open to let the breeze (or the pet cat ) to come in and hence the metal gate is usually locked and necessitate a digital lock (for convenience).

It is a pain to always need a physical key to unlock the gate from inside and outside.

Examples of biometric fingerprint Gateman Z10 on door and metal gate

BudgetIt is more expensive to put a digital lock on the metal gate (than a wood door) because additional effort and components are needed:

effort and fixtures to mount the lock on the gate which is different case to case

metal enclosure to box up the rear of the digital lock to prevent access to the OPEN button located on the rear of digital lock

remote controller to unlock from inside the home (because the OPEN button is now inaccessible)

A metal gate digital lock solution is approximately SGD 600 all inclusive. ​​Platform:By platform, we mean how do we go about putting a digital lock on the metal gate.

There is the proprietary metal gate lock (which is expensive and typically one version behind the mainstream due to inherently much lower sales volume). This is not the right approach in our opinion . We do not do this.

There is the flexible platform relying on popular and high volume regular digital locks which inherently means lower price, more choice of recent lock models, plug/play/remove if needed - and allows you to retain the metal gate handle and lock should you decide to fallback to a non-digital solution

Our flexible and non proprietary approach translates to a cheaper price, ability to use the latest model, and more importantly the ability to retain the existing gate handle and lock make better practical sense.

Examples of biometric fingerprint Gateman WF20 on door and metal gate

Quality/Bill of Materials:Our prices for digital lock on metal gate reflects our focus on using proper materials and fit on the metal gate. As the saying goes, you get what you pay for, and in our case:

​Use of solid wood panel custom fitted to your metal gate lines - as opposed to cheaper metal sheets (that will rust) and even cheaper dark acrylic/perspex (that scratches easily and will even break if chipped at the right which looks bad . Solid wood custom fitted not only ensures it is rust and scratch proof, but also gives a natural textured look some will love on their gate.

Note: Our gate installations with solid wood front looks as new as it was first installed.

Use of industry smallest rear enclosure specific to recent smaller footprint Gateman locks such as WF20 and Z10 ensures a small package overall when viewed from the inside. This is industry smallest in Singapore. Some customers informed us that is the reason they prefer to use our metal enclosure.

Note: The enclosure is also double powder coated against rust using catalytic process to ensure an aesthetically pleasant, complete and evenly coated surface.

A wide choice of popular locks from iRevo/Gateman - a subsidiary of global Assa Abloy means you are not constrained by the singular model offered by some vendors. These Gateman locks are in high demand and you will also get the latest models and will not get locked in by vendors providing proprietary singular model.

An aesthetically modern remote controller that sits on the wall and is used to unlock the gate digital lock when you leave home. Note: additional / optional keyfob controller as portable as your car keyfob is also available

Examples of Gateman A20

We sometimes suggest that metal gate need not be locked and hence there is no need for a digital lock at all. But if you do find it necessary, engage us for the metal gate solution that use quality material, industry smallest enclosure, leading lock models and professional workmanship.

Sliding wood or aluminium/glass casement doors proves to be a challenge to most home owners and interior designers because the traditional digital lock bolt (the rectangular block of metal than comes out when locked) works only for swing open type door; for a sliding door, the bolt will - well just slide out from the hole.

This is where Gateman digital locks come in with their vertical clamp bolt style. When locked, it clamps onto the small strike placed on the other side, gripping the panels together very strongly.

You can choose pin, card and fingerprint Gateman digital lock for your next sliding wood or aluminium casement doors in Singapore. Only from Gateman, an iRevo brand, part of Assa Abloy group.

Digital door locks in Singapore is slowly but surely moving into mainstream. One sign is the proliferation of suppliers and lock models. We start to see some of the third rate brands from Korea appearing in the Singapore market. Some of these will be re-branded under more traditional brands and will carry a higher price tag (after the re-branding). Some are contract manufactured and sources from the same manufacturer - so you will tend to see the same look and profile under different brands. Some are cheaply manufactured.

That said, we are always pleased with the Korean Gateman brand. They tend to focus on build quality. Take the Gateman J20-IH with the industry's monocoque rear body for extra strength and rigidity. You see this monocque body only in the higher priced Gateman Z10-IH and A20-IH models but it is now available in this entry model. So it may not have fingerprint (Z10-IH) or the best slim look (A20-IH) but it shares the same high quality rear body as the siblings.

The J20-IH rear body is way far superior to the plastic-heavy body you find in the third rate Korean branded or OEM'ed locks. Did I mention this J20-IH also has the advanced programming mode (as with A20-IH and Z10-IH?). Check it out the price here:

This is a often asked question: what is the difference and which one is better - Gateman WF20 or Gateman Z10.

Well, it depends. In general, they are both good locks in the small fingerprint digital locks industry. Gateman makes the best and proven fingerprint locks over the last 8 years. We like to say: buy the one that looks best to you because that may matter more to you (how it looks). But if you are looking for other perspectives, we drew up a table below for further inputs.

Again, they are both good locks. Just go for one that your buying profile dictates ( price range , looks). Sometimes the door won't allow any of these locks to be installed - so check with us first with a few pictures of the door (or a condo name) - before you deep dive into the differences.

​In summary, we believe Gateman Z10 delivers unparalleled premium build quality in the small fingerprint rim locks category. This is expected as Gateman is Korea’s #1 digital lock manufacturer and this company is dedicated to digital locks. In the non-premium category, the Gateman WF20 is definitely the one to go for as it shares some common attributes as the Z10.

Samsung did a great marketing job in creating appeal for their flagship Push n Pull lock. We have to do something special at the Trilinq condominium to fit the lock in between the tight space between the door handle and vertical pull bar.

Is a double door handle (one from the door and one from the lock) a rational approach from an aesthetic and usage perspective? What do you think?

iRevo Gateman recently updated the Gateman F10 digital lock that has served users very well all over the world. Historically, there was the Gateman F10 ... and then the spin-offs Gateman F10, Gateman F10-Hook, Gateman F50, Gateman F50-Hook, Gateman F50-FD, and the more recent Gateman WF10, and not to mention the Yale 4110!

Today, we see the Gateman WF20, both a physical update and an electronics firmware revision to the family (and what a family lineage!) of Gateman fingerprint rim lock that is easy and practical to use with a very attractive price.

What's new and what's the same for the Gateman WF20?

The front body retains the same body format and shape of the Gateman WF10 and we think it is a very good decision as we find the design subtle and accessible.

The rear body is now more compact (10mm shorter horizontally) which allows it to better fit tight spaces for door with architraves (protruding wood inlays typically in the form of rectangular boxes on older timber doors).

The rear body (as a result of the compaction) has shed the mechanical switches for volume, automatic/manual lock and double lock. The volume and automatic/manual lock settings are still available as electronic settings but it is not as easily accessible. The double lock setting has been removed completely in the WF20 - so go for the WF10 modelsif you need this privacy feature.

The rear body has a flip outwards top open battery cover which we find to be not as easy to use as the previous model Gateman WF10 and some condo handle bars may obstruct the opening of the battery cover and hence not suitable for Gateman WF20

The firmware has been revised with new features which is summarised in the attached diagram. The new features may appeal to premises with non-trusted parties (eg. office, shared residential/tenanted premise, or any premise which expect regular changes for users due to attrition)

(update Feb 2018) The voice guide language has been recently updated to include English and Chinese, in addition to Korean.

Conclusion:Gateman WF20 is a welcomed update mostly in firmware for those looking for more controls in a lock settings. Current Gateman WF10 users should be very happy with what they have; the Gateman WF10 is one that has almost everything a normal user will care for and we for one will miss it -- and for that reason we stashed a few in our warehouse for our employees and for those who asked for it. If you are getting a new digital lock and wanted a fingerprint lock, the Gateman WF20 should be the top two in your consideration, with the other being a Gateman Z10.​